Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The BSGP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee began as a subcommittee of the UNM HSC’s and School of Medicine’s White Coats for Black and Indigenous Lives (WCBIL) Committees in March 2020. Our committee includes students, staff, and faculty.

Mission: Our mission statement is to encourage equity, inclusion, and accessibility in learning and research environments of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BSGP).

In pursuit of our mission, our committee hosts monthly meetings where members identify anti-racism and inclusion needs within the BSGP as well as design and plan initiatives to address these needs. We take strategic action each year to provide opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to deepen their understanding of their social identities, respect for the experiences of others who are different from them, ability to conduct ethical research, and capacities as learners, leaders, and advocates in broadly diverse environments.

Much of our work focuses on integrating anti-racism and inclusion topics into BSGP curriculum. We also host various events throughout the year such as workshops on culturally relevant mentoring and Transgender 101 trainings. We serve as a resource to students, faculty, and staff in our BSGP community as they work to support individuals in thriving as their whole selves.

Our membership, programming, and advocacy initiatives continue to grow. To learn more about the committee and to get involved, please contact somreo@salud.unm.edu.

To prepare for future job applications, we encourage students to start writing their professional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement and get feedback on their statement throughout their BSGP training. Before students graduate, they should be able to briefly describe

1. examples of how they’ve participated in and expanded their DEI-related work over time
2. how working on DEI initiatives have contributed to their personal and professional growth
3. their goals for advancing DEI in their community

What do diversity, inclusion, and equity mean in lay terms?

• Diversity means that everyone is invited to the party, regardless of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, parental status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status (or any other).
• Inclusion means that everyone contributed to the playlist
• Equity means that everyone has the opportunity to dance.

When writing DEI statements, it is helpful to tell a story of how you’ve expanded your DEI-related work year after year. For example, you can describe:

1. How does your identity define who you are and intersect with your professional practice?
2. When you have encountered or witnessed exclusion or inequities, what have you done, or how are you preparing to mitigate these situations in the future?
3. How do your past life experiences and/or formal DEI training sessions shape your approach to mentorship and teaching?

For additional help writing a DEI statement, visit

• https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/developing-and-writing-a-diversity-statement/ 
• https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/currents/17387731.0001.112?view=text;rgn=main

During the last reporting period, I volunteered for the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Peer Mentoring Network where I had the opportunity to serve as a peer mentor for graduate students of different backgrounds to help them transition and integrate to the graduate program.

I had the opportunity to exchange personal, academic, and professional experiences with a diverse group of peer graduate students that helped me learn about the many difficulties and challenges that students may face based on their different backgrounds. I have gained knowledge on how to become a better support system and offer them resources.

During the next year, I would like to continue my involvement as a peer mentor to keep being a support system for students. I would also like to attend workshops on how I can become a better mentor for students of underrepresented groups, such as students of different nationalities or members of the LGBTQ community.

During the last reporting period, I served as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) student representative of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Student Society. During this time, I worked closely with the BSGP DEI committee to plan, organize, and implement curricular changes in the BSGP to create a better working environment for students of different backgrounds. For example, we added a case study to our Responsible Conduct of Research course about intervening when witnessing harassment in laboratories. In the future, I would like to organize student panels to promote involvement and discussion among my peers regarding how to create resources for students of underrepresented groups. I will speak with the BIOM 501 course director about including one of these panels in this course for the first year BSGP students.